Shi'ite clerics fear cannot prevent civil war

[Barrett808]

Shi'ite clerics fear cannot prevent civil war
By Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite religious leaders' restraining influence on militia groups is waning fast and senior clerics fear they are dragging Iraq into civil war, a source close to the clerical authorities said on Wednesday.

Sounding the most urgent note of alarm yet from the Marja'iya, the religious establishment led by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the senior source told Reuters: "People are paying less and less heed to the Marja'iya every day because of how sectarian killings are affecting Shi'ite public opinion."

In two years of attacks on their newly empowered majority community by Sunni rebels, Shi'ite militias have mostly respected calls for restraint from the holy city of Najaf but senior figures in Shi'ite armed groups speak of mounting anger.

Despite insistent pleas for calm last month from Sistani hundreds were killed in days of reprisal attacks after the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra, prompting fears that Shi'ite anger could plunge Iraq into all-out civil war.

"The Marja'iya is still calling for restraint but there is a great worry and fear that people are responding less because of continual pressure every day from the killing and slaughter," the source close to the Najaf religious establishment said.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060315/wl_nm/iraq_shiites_dc

[RedEarth]

1. Well, if Sistani can't keep the lid on things in Iraq, no one can........

not a good sign....

[bemildred]

2. This sort of smells bad.

Unattributed sources, divisive memes, a run at justifying a bloodbath.